As college students head back to school, the more sensible of them are wondering how they will pay for the privilege. There are some 21.5 million students in the United States this year, and many of them will be funding their college careers on borrowed money. Given that there is at present more than $1.3 trillion in student loans on the books, it's pretty clear that many college students are far from sensible.
The average student's debt upon graduation now approaches $40,000, and as college becomes ever more common and expensive, calls to make it "free" seem to be multiplying. Even Hillary Clinton says that when it comes to college, "Costs won't be a barrier."
But the only way college could be free is if the faculty and staff donated their time, the buildings required no maintenance, the campuses required no heating, cooling, or utilities of any kind, and every other expense simply disappeared. As long as it is impossible to produce something from nothing, though, costs are absolutely a barrier. The actual question we debate, regardless of whether we admit it, is who should pay for people to go to college. If students do not shoulder the cost, that cost will be shifted to someone else. And this is where things get interesting. No one seems to take the idea of free college for everyone seriously, but the idea of student loan forgiveness has somehow gained traction. In the end, though, it amounts to the same thing: The American taxpayer will be left holding a very expensive bag. But if taxpayers are to bear the cost of student loan forgiveness, shouldn't they have a say in how their money is used?
At a bare minimum, taxpayers should be able to decide what students will study on the public dime. If we are going to force taxpayers to foot the bill for college degrees, students should only study those subjects that are of greatest benefit to the taxpayers. After all, students making their own choices in this respect is what gave us the student loan problem in the first place. We simply do not need more poetry, gender studies, or sociology majors. Starbucks is fully stocked with baristas for the foreseeable future.
How do we know which subjects benefit society? Easy. Average starting salaries give a clear indication of what type of training society needs its new workers to have. Certainly, there are benefits to a college major beyond the job a student can perform. But if we're talking about the benefits to society - as opposed to the benefits to the student - the only thing that matters is what the major enables the student to produce for society. And the value of what the student can produce is reflected in the wage employers are willing to pay the student to produce it.
Today's wages tell us that we could use more computer engineers (average starting salary $65,000), nurses ($55,000), and statisticians ($53,000), and far fewer criminal justice majors ($35,000), social workers ($33,000), and elementary education majors ($32,000).
A low wage does not mean, for example, that elementary education isn't important. It is. A low wage simply means that there are already so many people in the market trained to teach elementary school that we don't need more of them. Meanwhile, there are few who are willing and able to perform jobs requiring a petroleum engineering major, so the value of one more of those people is very high (average starting salary, $103,000).
So we can go this way. We can have taxpayers pick up students' tuition in exchange for dictating what those students will study. Or we can allow students both to choose their majors and pay for their educations themselves. But in the end, one of two things is true: Either a college major is worth its cost or it isn't. If the major is worth its cost, taxpayer financing isn't needed. If the major is not worth its cost, taxpayer financing isn't desirable. Either way, taxpayers have no business paying for students' educations.
51. What does the author think of college students funding their education through loans?
B) They are acting in an irrational way.
52. In the author’ s opinion, free college education is ______.
A)impractical
53. What should students do if taxpayers are to bear their college costs?
C) Choose majors that will serve society’s practical needs.
54. What does the author say about the value of a student’s college education?
C) It is well reflected in their average starting salary.
55. What message does the author want to convey in the passage?
D) College students should fund their own education.
51答案：B) They are acting in an irrational way.
定位：根据题干信息college students funding their education through loans定位到文章段第二句“many of them will be funding their college careers on borrowed money.”和段第三句Given that there is at present more than $1.3 trillion in student loans on the books。
解析：作者态度题。根据定位句位置找到作者对于college students funding their education through loans的评价相关的句子，即段第三句后半部分“it's pretty clear that many college students are far from sensible.”翻译为：显然，许多大学生在这一方面(指代前面提到的大学生通过资助自己上学这件事)是不明智的”，即作者的态度。所以B正确，其中选项中的irrational(不合理的，荒谬的)是对far from sensible(sensible明智的，合乎情理的，far from 远非)的同意替换。
52答案：A)impractical
定位：根据题干信息author’ s opinion, free college education，定位到第二段第二行“calls to make it "free" seem to be multiplying”和第三段句“But the only way college could be free is if the faculty and staff donated their time, the buildings required no maintenance, the campuses required no heating, cooling, or utilities of any kind, and every other expense simply disappeared”
解析：作者态度题。根据定位句位置找到作者对于“free college education”的评价句子有，“calls to make it "free" seem to be multiplying”和“But the only way college could be free is if the faculty and staff donated their time, the buildings required no maintenance, the campuses required no heating, cooling, or utilities of any kind, and every other expense simply disappeared。As long as it is impossible to produce something from nothing, though, costs are absolutely a barrier”翻译为：“号召大学教育免费的呼声越来越高”，“但是实现大学教育免费的办法是教职员工奉献他们的时间，教学办公楼无需维修，校园不需要供应冷气或暖气，亦或所有的公用事业费和其他的费用都不存在了。既然不可能不付出任何代价就有成果，所以学费是个问题。”可以看出作者认为free college education是不切实际的，故B为正确答案，其中，impossible对应impractical(不现实的)。
53答案：C) Choose majors that will serve society’s practical needs.
定位：根据题干信息students ，if taxpayers bear their college costs，定位到第4段第2句“If we are going to force taxpayers to foot the bill for college degrees, students should only study those subjects that are of greatest benefit to the taxpayers.”以及第五段二句对subject的解释“How do we know which subjects benefit society? Easy”
解析：细节题。根据定位信息，“If we are going to force taxpayers to foot the bill for college degrees, students should only study those subjects that are of greatest benefit to the taxpayers.”可以得知：大学生应该学习那些对于纳税人有利的科目。后面进一步解释，即对社会有益的科目，综合来看，C为正确选项。其中“serve society’s practical needs”为“benefit society”的同意改写。
54答案：C) It is well reflected in their average starting salary.
定位：根据题干信息the value of a student’s college education 定位到第五段最后一句“And the value of what the student can produce is reflected in the wage employers are willing to pay the student to produce it.”
解析：细节题。根据定位句得知：大学生所能创造出的价值(即题干中大学教育的价值)体现在雇主会支付给他们的工资中。结合该段开头，Average starting salaries give a clear indication of what type of training society needs its new workers to have.”大学生的平均起薪会清晰地体现社会需要这些刚入职场的员工所应具备的素质。可知答案为C.
55答案：D) College students should fund their own education.
定位：根据题干信息可以判断，本题需结合段落大意和文章行文逻辑关系进行解答。
解析：主旨题。段引出大学生通过向外求助上学这一话题。第二三段指出免费的大学教育是不现实的，并指出纳税人资助这一现象。第四五段指出纳税人，作为资助者有权利决定学生们所学科目，并解释了对社会有利的科目的衡量标准：工资。第六七段指出工资高低分布的不同工作及与教育的关系。最后一段得出结论：综合来看。纳税人资助上学是没有必要的。所以结论为大学生应该自助接受教育。故答案为D。
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